Follicular Unit Transplant (FUT)

You don’t have to hide under a hat or worry about people staring at your thinning hair anymore.

Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT) is the Gold Standard for hair transplant procedures.

Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT) is considered by the most highly skilled hair transplant doctors as the best method in ensuring the maximum hair grafts available over a patient’s lifetime. The best quality hair grafts can be removed using this procedure as there is less risk of transection using the FUE method.

The FUT technique can be used for hair transplants, hairline lowering, eyebrow transplants, beard transplants, and scar revisions.

What is Follicular Unit Transplant (FUT), or STRIP Surgery?

The FUT (STRIP) procedure involves harvesting donor hair follicles with an approximately 6 cm incision in the back of your head. This incision scar is hidden under your remaining hair as long as you keep some length to the hair on the back of your scalp. If you prefer to wear your hair extremely short, you may consider the FUE harvesting method instead.

Our highly trained medical technicians dissect the donor follicles into individual hair follicles under a high power stereo microscope. The use of a stereo microscope prevents damage (transection) of the hair follicles and allows our surgical team to examine each follicle to ensure it is of the best quality for transplantation.

Does the FUT procedure produce the best outcome?

FUT is a harvesting, or removal technique. Your final results will depend on how the hairs are placed or implanted more than how the hairs are taken out. The surgeon’s skill level and artistic ability will factor into how good and natural the results of the hair transplant will look. The placing or implantation of the hair follicle is the same for both FUE and FUT (STRIP) harvesting. The doctor will individually plan and create sites in which each hair follicle will be placed in the correct direction and angle, and the hair grafts are distributed properly. This is very meticulous work and why it is so important to choose an experienced doctor with both technical and artistic abilities.

Isn’t FUE the newer and therefore more desirable method over FUT (STRIP)?

The method of graft removal is not the determining factor of the final outcome, as much as the skill level of the surgeon and their staff. Although FUT harvesting and use of stereo-microscopic dissection is still considered the best by the most highly skilled physicians, FUE does have advantages such as not having a scar on the back of your scalp. FUT, on the other hand, does not involve shaving the back of your scalp in preparation for the procedure. Both the FUE and FUT methods are great options.

What is transection and how likely is it to occur with the FUT versus the FUE procedure?

Transection occurs when the end of a hair follicle is cut while being removed (harvested). During an FUT procedure, the entire follicle is removed on a strip of skin, which produces the least amount of damage to the hair follicles. During an FUE procedure, individual follicles have to be cored out from the root and can be damaged by the tool at the root as it is being harvested out of the skin.

Does an FUE graft look different than an FUT graft?

FUE and FUT (Strip) grafts do look different when they are harvested. FUE grafts are harvested individually which can cause tearing of the bottom tissue and cause some damage. This is just the nature of FUE harvesting but is not transection. FUT (Strip) grafts are removed with a strip of skin and meticulously trimmed into individual grafts under a microscope in preparation for implantation.

Many clinics do not use the microscopes for quality control. At Jae Pak MD Medical, only FUT-equivalent quality grafts are used in our FUE procedures. Patients are not charged for any grafts removed that are poor quality, inferior grafts.

Which procedure is faster, FUT or FUE?

One type of procedure is not faster than another. Multiple factors come in to play such as the skill set and experience of the surgeon, elasticity of the skin and quality control measures used by the doctor and the surgical team. At Jae Pak MD Medical, each hair follicle is inspected under a microscope and only viable grafts are implanted to ensure the best possible results.

If I choose to have a second procedure, does my hair transplant have to be the same type of procedure, whether it be FUT or FUE?

You do not have to choose the same type of procedure for your second surgery. Your doctor will help you determine which procedure will help you best meet your goals. Should you choose to have a second FUT procedure, Dr. Pak can remove your old scar while removing the strip of hair follicles, so you are left with only one new scar.

How do the surgeons’ techniques and experience impact the success of the procedure?

Experience, techniques, tools used, and quality control all affect the outcome of a procedure. Dr. Pak uses manual instruments for his FUE and FUT extractions, which produces minimal hair damage and good extraction rates. Less experienced doctors produce considerable hair damage in the grafts.

Dr. Pak’s extraction rates often vary in excess of 1000 grafts per hour. during an FUE procedure. However, many factors can affect the speed at which he is able to remove hair follicles. His focus is on quality, not speed, to ensure the least amount of transection occurs. Surgeons can range from a rate of 100 grafts-1000 grafts per hour. This is usually determined by their years of experience and technical abilities.

The FUT (Strip) extraction rate is more consistent and is dependent on the size of the surgical team. An experienced medical technician can dissect 300 to 500 grafts/ hour from the strip of skin removed by the doctor. As a result, with three to four members on a surgical team, they can easily surpass the typical FUE extraction rate. Having an experienced and skilled doctor and group of medical technicians makes a significant difference in the length and outcome of the procedure.